Before the full-scale invasion he trained children, and afterwards he stood up to defend them. Ruslan Danko, a Greco-Roman wrestler, was killed in the war with the Russian invaders.
He was born on July 5, 1990, in the small town of Kosiv, Ivano-Frankivsk region. Since childhood, he has been practicing Greco-Roman wrestling. During the training camps, athletes from different regions of Ukraine came to Prykarpattia, including Olympic wrestling champion Zhan Beleniuk. According to him, Ruslan was a strong wrestler, who, before the full-scale invasion, decided to devote himself to coaching and educating future generations of the Frankivsk region. He worked as a coach at the Kosiv Children and Youth Sports School “Hirske Orlatko”.
If the war had not started, he would have raised more than one generation of champions and glorified Ukraine together with his students. But instead, he had to take up arms and defend them. On the second day of the full-scale Russian invasion, Ruslan voluntarily joined the army. He served in the 102nd separate brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Due to his work in civilian life, he received the call sign “Coach”. He was a commander of a reconnaissance platoon, which consists of aerial reconnaissance (drone operators) and people engaged in detailed, foot reconnaissance. His comrades recall that the most important task for him was always to save the lives of his subordinates. He did this every day on the front line, but unfortunately, he could not save his own life.
On February 23, 2024, the heart of a brave Ukrainian warrior, loving husband and father, attentive friend and son Ruslan Danko stopped beating in eastern Ukraine forever…